Bart the General
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Simpsons episode | |
| "Bart the General" | |
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|---|---|
| Promotional artwork for "Bart the General". | |
| Episode no. | 5 |
| Prod. code | 7G05 |
| Orig. Airdate | February 4, 1990 |
| Show Runner(s) | James L. Brooks Matt Groening Sam Simon |
| Written by | John Swartzwelder |
| Directed by | David Silverman |
| DVD commentary by | Matt Groening James L. Brooks David Silverman |
| SNPP capsule | |
| Season 1 December 17, 1989 – May 13, 1990 |
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| List of all Simpsons episodes... | |
"Bart the General" is the fifth full length episode of The Simpsons. The episode deals with Bart's troubles with the school bully, Nelson Muntz.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Bart gets into a fight with Nelson, the school bully, while protecting the cupcakes that Lisa baked for Miss Hoover. Nelson beats up Bart after school and warns him to expect the same treatment the following day. At home, Homer advises Bart to fight dirty, while Marge suggests that he try to reason with Nelson. Choosing Homer's advice, Bart confronts Nelson, but is beaten up again. This time, he turns to the toughest member of the Simpson family, Grampa Simpson.
Grampa introduces Bart to Herman, a crazed veteran who runs an army surplus store. Herman declares war on Nelson and instructs Bart on a full-assault strategy. Bart gathers other kids at school who have been traumatized by Nelson and enlists them as troops. As Herman commands from the field, Bart leads them into battle. Cornering Nelson and his thugs, they commence firing water balloons.
Terrorized, the thugs surrender. Nelson is taken prisoner, but he threatens to kill Bart as soon as he is untied. Afterwards, Herman drafts an armistice, which Bart and Nelson agree to sign. Marge enters with cupcakes, and peace prevails.
[edit] Trivia
- This episode marks the first appearance of:
- Nelson Muntz
- Herman
- Miss Hoover (First mention)
- Ironically, Nelson doesn't say "Haw Haw!" (which he would later be infamous for) at all in his first episode, and didn't use it until "Three Men and a Comic Book" in Season 2.
- Lisa calls her teacher "Mrs. Hoover" instead of "Miss Hoover."
- During their first fight, Nelson hits Bart twelve times in the face before he knocks Bart out.
- This is the first episode we see Bart cry. Homer then proceeds to dry his tears with a hairdryer.
- This is the first episode we see Springfield Retirement Castle, the retirement home where Grampa Simpson lives.
- Maggie does not appear in this episode
- Grampa's list of words he does not want to hear on television again:
1. Bra
2. Horny
3. Family Jewels - Milhouse now has blue hair (he had black hair in "Bart the Genius").
- There are African shields and spears in Herman's antique shop.
- Bart asks Herman whether he lost his arm in the war, to which Herman warns Bart, "Next time your teacher tells you to keep your arm inside the bus window, you do it!" Two episodes earlier, in "Homer's Odyssey", Mrs. Krabappel tells the children to keep their arms in the bus and says, "We all know the tragic story of the young man who stuck his arm out the window and had it ripped off by a big truck coming in the other direction." However the audio commentary stated that it was supposed to be a running gag that Herman would explain his missing arm differently each time.
- In the Czech-dubbed version Herman is portrayed as a Neo-Nazist, greeting Bart with the words "Sieg Heil, mein Junge" and claiming that he lost his arm while hailing from a bus.
- The children go after the sandbag with a plunger, a feather duster and fly swatters, before Herman finishes it off with a bayonet.
- Bart and his army use a classic Pincer's movement to attack Nelson. "It can't fail against a ten-year-old!"
- In Herman's model of the town, he spells the "Kwik-E-Mart" as "Quick-E-Mart."
- Marge brings the cupcakes in before Nelson signs the treaty and we never actually see him sign it.
- In the United Kingdom, this was one of the first episodes released on video cassette in the early 1990s, and thus was many viewers' introduction to the series (especially in the days before the series was shown on terrestrial television).
- In Bart's first dream sequence, he throws 10 knives at Nelson, and shoots at him 98 times.
- Strangely, most of the opening sequence is cut off and immediately shows the Simpsons house
[edit] Cultural references
- War movies - several war movies are parodied or homaged in various scenes throughout the episode:
- Full Metal Jacket - The scene where the "trainees" do pull-ups and other exercises on a jungle-gym-type structure as the sun sets in the background.
- The Longest Day - The shot of the GI helmet resting on its top while Nelson and his goons try to escape
- Patton - Several lines of dialogue, Bart slapping one of his soldiers (for "being a disgrace") and the music are lifted directly from the movie. "The key to Springfield has always been Elm Street. The Greeks knew it, the Carthaginians knew it, now you know it."
- Stripes - Herman running up and jabbing the training dolls with his bayonet, just like in the movie.
- Life magazine V-J Day photo of a sailor kissing a nurse in New York's Times Square - One of Bart's "soldiers" grabs Lisa and passionately kisses her, the moment preserved on film. The pose of both the boy and Lisa are identical to the famous photograph shot by Alfred Eisenstaedt. However, Lisa slaps the boy and tells him to knock it off.
- Nuremberg trials - The cronies' comments, "We were only following orders," effectively summarize those of Adolf Hitler's former Nazi leaders during the trials.
- Italy in World War II - Earlier on Nelson's cronies follow him loyally, but when they are surrounded, they give up to Bart's army. In World War II, Italy was originally a loyal ally to Germany, and followed Mussolini, however when the Allies made advances, the Italian military surrendered to the Allies and betrayed Mussolini and declared war on Germany.
- Peace treaties – Various peace treaties (and events surrounding them) are referenced in the armistice between Bart and Nelson:
- "Nelson recognizes Bart's right to exist" – Much like Palestine recognizing Israel's right to exist.
- "Nelson is never again to raise his fists in anger" – Germany and Japan having to eliminate their offensive armies; and Japanese Emperor Hirohito being forced to renounce his claims of being the arahitogami (or, living god).
- Nelson "agreeing" to sign the armistice – similar to Germany signing the Treaty of Versailles after World War I.
- ABC Afterschool Special and CBS Schoolbreak Special - Bart's post-episode speech, where he warns about the dangers of war and recommends further reading on the topic, pays homage to those "after school specials."
- According to Bart, "there are no good wars, with the following exceptions: The American Revolution, World War II, and the Star Wars Trilogy."
- Herman uses a declaration of war from the Franco-Prussian War and changes "Otto von Bismarck" to read "Bart Simpson" and changes "Napoleon III" to read "Nelson Muntz."
[edit] Bart's "daydreams" about Nelson
Prior to his confrontation with Nelson, Bart has two "daydreams" where he worries about a potentially brutal outcome. Those daydreams are as follows:
[edit] First daydream
Bart is walking down the hall when Nelson begins chasing him. Bart attempts to use various means to ward off the fast-growing Nelson - knives, a spray of sub machine gun bullets, etc. - all of them failing to faze the bully. Eventually, Nelson grows into a Goliath-like terror and corners Bart. (Nelson would later play Goliath II in Season 10's "Simpsons Bible Stories".) Nelson easily picks up Bart, shouts out, "Lunchtime!" and swallows him whole.
[edit] Second daydream
Later, Bart - Nelson having reminded Bart that he expects him for his after-school beating - envisions his funeral. Bart's entire class, his friends, Principal Skinner and his family take their turns at the casket, saying their goodbyes. Skinner remarks the nurse "did a wonderful job" reconstructing his face after his fatal run-in with Nelson (implying the fight was particularly brutal). Homer gleefully celebrates his "day of mourning" until Marge corrects him, while Lisa tearfully places a cupcake in Bart's casket and wishes she had handled her earlier run-in with Nelson differently. Nelson oafishly grabs the cupcake, punches the corpse and walks off.
[edit] External links
- "Bart the General" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
- "Bart the General" at the Internet Movie Database
